By Jonathan Lee
R.A. Dickey has thrown consecutive one-hit shutouts for the surprising New York Mets. This pitching feat has not happened in the National League in 68 years, and only 10 other pitchers have matched it since 1900. Oh, and Dickey is the only knuckleballer in the game today.
So just how good is Dickey? AccuScore currently projects him for 120 innings for the rest of the season (assuming full health) with a 2.69 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 8.9 – 4.1 W-L, 96 strikeouts, 28 walks, and 14 quality starts. That stacks up favorably against the very best the National League has to offer.
|
Pitcher
|
IP
|
W-L
|
K
|
BB
|
QS
|
ERA
|
WHIP
|
|
R.A. Dickey
|
119.9
|
8.9 - 4.1
|
96.1
|
27.8
|
14
|
2.69
|
1.07
|
|
Clayton Kershaw
|
129.2
|
10.7 - 3.7
|
128.6
|
36.1
|
13.2
|
2.66
|
1.05
|
|
Matt Cain
|
126.8
|
11.1 - 3
|
106.6
|
30.3
|
13.7
|
2.58
|
0.98
|
|
Cliff Lee
|
135.4
|
10.7 - 4.3
|
130.1
|
19.3
|
18.4
|
2.93
|
1.02
|
|
Cole Hamels
|
121.7
|
9.8 - 3.6
|
117.5
|
28
|
18
|
2.98
|
1.06
|
|
Johan Santana
|
103.3
|
7.6 - 4.7
|
84.5
|
30.7
|
9.3
|
3.13
|
1.18
|
|
Stephen Strasburg
|
99
|
10 - 2.9
|
120.5
|
24.6
|
11.3
|
2.55
|
1.03
|
The Mets are currently 38-32, but AccuScore forecasts them to finish just below .500 with 79 wins. That limits the pure win total for Dickey and his teammate Johan Santana. Dickey compares very well in the other statistical categories to the other elite starters with the third most quality starts in the league, and a better ERA than the Phllie duo of Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. His K-rate of 7.2 is also very good considering he is not relying on mid-90s fastballs like the other pitchers on this list. Even this relative “weakness” has turned into a strength as Dickey has averaged more than 10 strikeouts over his last 7 starts.
On pure start-by-start numbers Stephen Strasburg appears to be the best pitcher in the NL, but the Nationals have said they plan to limit him to about 160 innings. He has currently thrown 84 innings so AccuScore splits the difference between a cap and a normal full season and projects 99 more innings (for a 183 total). Given overall performance and projection however, R.A. Dickey just might be the best pitcher right now in the National League.
